ABSTRACT
One of the overriding pressures in achieving food security is the increasing demand for food from a growing population. Already by the middle of the twentieth century population growth was seen as an issue vis-à-vis the food supply; however, what was becoming more apparent by this time was the emerging awareness of the detrimental relationship population increase was having on other natural resources (Ruxin 1996). Unfortunately in the early years though few reports outside of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the World Bank were conducting globally representative surveys, and as a result many people relied heavily on the data and statistics contained within these publications. The reading was grim and by the 1950s and 1960s a plethora of reports proclaiming global Malthusian catastrophes were being regularly published. Hunger and malnutrition became buzzwords, almost clichés in the popular press too, with far too many suggesting that the world was on the brink of mass starvation. This was not confined to observers either; many academic authors as well, it seemed were convinced of the inability of humanity to feed itself and it was these growing fears that led ultimately to a White House Report in 1967 to look into the situation. This report looked at the problem of food and re¡ected on the situation at length, and weighing up the evidence eloquently suggested that the world’s food problem’s ‘size and significance tend to be obscured by rhetorical overkill’ (SAC 1967). Just how such a pessimistic outlook came about was not surprising according to several commentators, chief among them Thomas Poleman. The answer, it was suggested, linked back to the few truly global reports that were available and these, according to Pullman, were biased towards exaggeration (Poleman 1972). Despite this well-balanced and thorough report however, it was fundamentally ¡awed in that it too relied on a plethora of existing data. What was only beginning to emerge at this time was the sheer pervasiveness of the phenomenon of hunger and malnutrition. By the mid to late 1960s though, through increased research and information dissemination, the true extent of the problem was coming to light. Reports, like the 1967 White House report, while informative, only served to give critics further deniability. Others saw hunger and malnutrition as inherent in an ever-increasing populace. So what were the implications in terms of sustainability within these growing populations?
